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[cap and gown]

I was thinking about another playthrough of the trilogy, probably my last. For this Shepard I started thinking about the outcomes I would like to see in ME3 based on how they appealed to me, not necessarily whether they fit any particular Shepard. At the same time I started to develop an idea for a Shepard. Now I have to reconcile my initial sketch of who Cat is, with the final outcomes I want to see. This is not necessarily an easy task and I was looking for some idea on how Cat can develop over the series where the outcomes I want to see make sense in terms of who Cat is.

 

So lets start with some outcomes:

 

Wrex survives to show up in the Citadel DLC. This means curing the Genophage. Eve lives? Not sure since I may want to kill her just to get the alternate dialogue from Wrex.

Peace between Geth and Quarians.

Destroy ending.

A small number of casualties during Suicide Mission. Mordin is definitely on the chopping block. Maybe Thane as well. Maybe someone else with a minor role in ME3 like Kasumi (not Jacob or Zaeed, though)

Kaidan romanced in ME1. No romance in ME2, unless you count Kelly. Traynor romanced in ME3.

 

Now let's talk about Cat:

 

Vanguard in ME1, Adept in ME2, and Sentinel in ME3. This is more based on the classes I like playing in ME2 and ME3 than anything else, though there will be a consistency of being a biotic throughout. (I picked Vanguard in ME1 because I wanted to go with a sniper rifle as my bonus talent while still having a decent primary weapon besides a pistol.) Her status as a biotic will play into who she is as a person.

 

Background: Spacer-War Hero

 

Normally, I think of this background as one you would pick for a "paragon" character. (In fact, this background has the largest initial boost to paragon points out of all the background combinations.) But I don't want to do a paragon run. Playthroughs based on whether a dialogue choice is on upper right or lower right irritate me greatly since they are the opposite of roleplaying: the game plays the player rather than the player playing the character. You could just as easily have a robot play out all the dialogue sections: "always pick upper right, yes master."

 

So where does that leave Cat? Well, my idea is that being raised in the military, winning the Star of Terra at a young age, and achieving N7 status points to a woman who has some rather unrealistic expectations of how the world works. She is idealistic in the sense of always trying to choose the heroic path. Despite this (or maybe because of it), she is intolerant of those who don't live up to her impossible standards. Whereas a lot of paragade/renegon playthroughs have Shepard be kind to his/her crew but a terror to his/her foes, this Shepard will be a terror to her crew, but magnanimous to her foes. She was raised in the military and has certain ideas about a code of behaviour that makes her rather unforgiving to subordinates who do not live up to her unrealistic expectations. She has never failed at anything in her life and can't understand why other people can't just do what she did. She is a prima dona. Her biotic abilities have simply reinforced her self-regard. I decided to make her a blonde with a pony-tail (this is a stereotype, I know) to try to convey the sense of her being a queen bee. Over time, however, I want her to change. I would like her to become more accepting of less than perfect individuals, but more willing to take some ruthless, non-heroic actions if she believes they will serve the greater good.

 

So here is where I need some help. How, when, and why does she change? Also, how can I get little miss holier-than-thou to agree to have Wrex along, as well as a bunch of rather shady characters like a thief, an assassin, a psychotic criminal, a vigilante, and a war criminal?

 

I figure Garrus will work because she has the option to try to convince him to adopt the paragon approach. Wrex, though is a tougher sell. Clearly, she can't be bringing him along on the Fist mission. That would just pop her cork right there. Probably have to wait for Wrex to approach her on the elevator before picking him up. But then Wrex gets into all this talk about being a pirate. Just avoid talking to him?

 

I guess with the Cerberus stuff we can assume that she feels she has been given a free hand by Cerberus and that she really doesn't work for them. (Although I would think she would just try to go back to being an Alliance officer. I guess she will need to speak to the Council right away in order to be convinced that they and the Alliance are not going to act against the reapers.)

 

I am thinking that perhaps if she has Thane (the assassin), Kasumi (the thief) and Mordin (the war criminal) all die on the SM this would help her become more charitable to less than perfect crew mates. Here are flawed people who nevertheless gave their lives to serve a noble goal. Maybe it would also make her start seeing the world less in black and white and start recognizing that sometimes you have to be a hard ass to serve the greater good. (I am thinking she sacrifices the Queen on Uttuku as too big a threat after having saved her on Noveria.)

 

Anyway, this is a work in progress and if you have some ideas on how to make Cat work as a character I would be interested in hearing them.

[fraggle]

Ok, this is really tough, and I see why you struggle!

With Wrex, I also would definitely only recruit him at the elevator. Doesn't he say something then about not being in it for the money? Maybe this can be a first clue he is a bit different. Not talking to him might also be an idea, but then what's her reasoning for letting him stay. Could she be someone who takes pity on the krogan because of the genophage (is that why she'll cure the genophage?)? If so, it could be an interesting conversation topic for her.

I also think from when she can convince him at Virmire this could be a real turning point as Wrex listens to her, shows reason, and in ME2 Wrex has more noble goals anyway.

 

In ME2, maybe after the Alliance not supporting her, her point of view also begins to crumble a bit. That maybe sometimes it takes something less perfect to get something done? Since she can't have the Alliance's support and neither the support of Kaidan she is forced to look for alternatives, and TIM, while not trustable, put forward his recommendations on the best, and she could come to the conclusion it couldn't hurt to look into it. Maybe she's even frustrated immensely as it's the only lead she's got and takes it out on the new members as well? Will you talk to all of the crew? Or do you plan to leave some of them out because Cat has no interest at all in getting to know them?

I think the "died at Suicide Mission for a noble cause" angle works well. The dead members earn her respect with this and she can start to see things differently from there.

[cap and gown]

Having her begin to change after the encounter on Horizon could work, I think. Having an affair with Kaidan would clearly be a violation of regulations against fraternization, yet she finds herself irresistibly attracted to him anyway. Then she saves him on Virmire, not because the mission demanded it, but because of her personal feelings, which is why the no-fraternization rules exist in the first place. This begins to fill her with guilt and self-doubt. Then Kaidan confronts her on Horizon and accuses her of being a traitor and she is devastated. At that point she begins her transformation from holier-than-thou to a more accommodating attitude to other people's flaws.

 

But I still want to do Stolen Memory almost right away to get my hands on the Locust.

[fraggle]

That sounds very good! I have experience with the "Save Kaidan because of feelings" too, and it's a great thing to do

 

Haha, understandable! Locust is the best!